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HPE posts record quarter; two years ahead of targets
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE) reported a Q2 revenue of US$10.7 billion, a 40% jump year-on-year and the company's strongest top-line result since spinning out of Hewlett-Packard in 2015. Earnings beats were realised across every key financial metric:GAAP diluted EPS swung to $0.44 from a loss of $0.82 in the prior corresponding periodNon-GAAP diluted EPS came in at $0.79, above prior guidanceGAAP gross margin reached 36.5%, up 810 basis points year-on-year and 60 basis points sequentially, with non-GAAP gross margin at 36.9%Free cash flow was $915 million for the quarter, a $1.76 billion improvement from the negative $847 million posted in Q2 FY25, with the six-month position swinging from negative $1.72 billion to positive $1.62 billion year-on-year"HPE delivered an exceptional quarter with record-breaking revenue, higher-than-anticipated profitability, and increased free cash flow, reflecting strong execution and healthy demand across the business," President and CEO Antonio Neri said.Networking, cloud restructure the driversThe Networking division posted $2.7 billion in revenue for the quarter, up 148% year-on-year, with every sub-line expanding: Data Center Networking surged 233% to $320 million, Security rose 155%
Tech
Qualcomm signs ByteDance deal for AI data centre chips
Qualcomm has struck a deal to supply millions of application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) to ByteDance, the Beijing-based owner of TikTok, to support the Chinese company's AI agent software running across its data centre network, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Neither Qualcomm nor ByteDance offered comment when approached by reporters, leaving the financial terms and delivery timeline of the arrangement unconfirmed at the time of publication. The reported arrangement covers two distinct elements, with ByteDance set to purchase millions of Qualcomm ASICs to run its AI agent software workloads, positioning the TikTok owner as one of the chipmaker's earliest and most prominent buyers for that product line. A separate source said that the agreement also extends to chip manufacturing services, with Qualcomm assisting ByteDance in advancing a proprietary chip design that the Chinese company has already completed through the full production process.Amon's three-part chip roadmapAt last month's earnings call, CEO Cristiano Amon flagged that Qualcomm's data centre ambitions were on track, telling investors the company is in "a period of profound industry transformation" with a "leadi
Tech
Samsung workers walk off the job following pay dispute
Nearly 50,000 Samsung Electronics employees are set to walk off the job after efforts to clinch a deal on bonus payments fell through, threatening the health of South Korea’s economy and the global supply of semiconductors. According to the union leader, Choi Seung-ho, the 18-day strike would go ahead after management failed to come around on one remaining sticking point in government-mediated talks. "I want to make clear that we had accepted the final proposal presented by government mediator," he told reporters. "We express deep regret and feel disappointed, but the union plans to go ahead with the strike according to the law.” Samsung Electronics said the union insisted on “unacceptable demands” that included the size of bonuses for loss-making units. "The reason an agreement could not be reached .... is that accepting the labour ‌union's ⁠excessive demands would undermine the fundamental principles of company management," it said. The union had demanded that Samsung abolish a cap on bonuses at 50% of annual salaries, allocate 15% of annual operating profit to bonuses, and that these changes be formalised beyond one year. Over the weekend, South Korea’s government threatened to step in and order emergency
Tech
Burry warns AI-fuelled tech rally may crash
Legendary American hedge fund manager Michael Burry has recommended that investors reduce their exposure to technology stocks, which have surged in an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven rally he compared to the last stages of the dot-com market bubble. Burry, best known for predicting the 2008 United States housing market collapse portrayed in The Big Short film, reportedly said stock prices were rising simply because “they have been going straight up”. “An easier way for most is to simply reduce exposure to stocks, to tech stocks in particular. For any stocks going parabolic, reduce positions almost entirely,” Burry wrote in a post on the Substack online platform. He warned that stocks may be about to crash, according to this Reuters article, which quotes him writing: "The market has jumped the shark.” The founder of Scion Asset Management said investors should “reject greed” as enthusiasm about AI and momentum-driven trading lifted company valuations, according to this CNBC article. Burry said he had "a significant leveraged short position" against a portfolio he viewed as depressed and cheap. But betting against the rally through short selling was risky and impractical for most investors, particularly as bear
Tech
How Anthropic locked in a US$900bn price tag
Anthropic has overtaken OpenAI on revenue, is days from a board decision on a US$900 billion valuation, and just secured a compute deal with its most vocal critic. Here's a rundown of its growth to-date: Sometime in the first week of April, a four-year-old lab most consumers have never heard of quietly passed the world's most recognised tech company on revenue. Anthropic - the San Francisco outfit behind the Claude model family - hit US$30 billion in annualised run-rate on April 7, edging past OpenAI's US$25 billion for the first time since ChatGPT launched in late 2022, a crossover analysts had pencilled in for August at the earliest. Going from US$1 billion in annualised revenue in January 2025 to $30 billion by April 2026 is a 30-fold expansion in 15 months - a growth arc that took Salesforce the better part of t Sources with direct knowledge of the financials put the actual figure closer to $40 billion, and a board decision on a ~$50 billion raise at a $900 billion valuation is expected this month - more than double the $380 billion set in February.Source: AzzetWhy the numbers keep climbingBehind every funding round is the same cost driver: silicon. Demand has been running ahead of Anthropic's processing capacit

Tech
Uber misses estimates, shares jump on high guidance
Uber missed earnings and revenue estimates last quarter, but shares spiked 8.5% after it issued high bookings guidance. Earnings per share (EPS) dropped 85% year-over-year to US$0.13, under LSEG-compiled estimates of $0.70. Revenue increased 14% to $13.20 billion, below estimates of $13.29 billion. “Uber is oﬀ to an exceptional start in 2026, with Gross Bookings and Non-GAAP earnings per share (EPS) at or above the high end of our guidance, despite a complex macro backdrop marked by weather disruptions, geopolitical tensions, and gas price volatility," said CEO Dara Khosrowshahi on an earnings call. Trips increased 20% to 3.6 billion last quarter. Its monthly active platform consumers rose 17% to 170 million, and its Uber One membership tier reached 50 million users. Mobility revenue fell short of expectations, however, increasing 5% to $6.80 billion. This is below StreetAccount estimates of $7.11 billion. Revenue for its delivery business was up 34% to $5.07 billion, beating estimates of $4.89 billion. Gross bookings also grew 25% to $42.82 billion. Uber’s outlook for the next quarter includes gross bookings of $56.25-27.75 billion, well above estimates of $56.17 billion. The company credited the decline in e
Tech
Apple beats estimates for Q2 earnings and revenue
Apple’s guidance topped estimates on the back of booming iPhone and Mac demand after beating sales and earnings expectations in the fiscal second quarter. Despite this, iPhones missed estimates for the second time in three quarters and was the only significant number that came up short of expectations. Wall Street expected iPhone sales to be US$57.21 billion, but they fell short at $56.99 billion. This was still a 22% jump year-over-year. Mac sales, however, came in above Wall Street's estimated $8.02 billion at $8.4 billion. “Continued strong customer demand for our products and services once again helped us achieve a new all-time high for our installed base of active devices across all major product categories and geographic segments,” Apple CFO Kevan Parekh said. Overall revenue climbed 17% to $111.18 billion, beating the LSEG consensus of $109.66 billion. It also reported earnings per share of $2.01, surpassing expectations of $1.95. The company said revenue in the June quarter is expected to jump by 14% to 17% from a year earlier, while analysts expect growth of 9.5% to $103 billion. Apple said its board authorised an additional $100 billion in stock repurchases and declared a cash dividend of 27 cents
Tech
Qualcomm handset chip sales fall, AI chips due 2026
Qualcomm’s earnings and revenue dipped last quarter as smartphone chip revenue faltered, but shares soared 13.5% in after-hours trading after it said it would begin shipping its first data centre chips later this year. Earnings per share were down 7% year-over-year to US$2.65, but above Zacks consensus estimates of $2.57. Revenue dropped 3% to $10.60 billion, missing estimates by 0.2%. “We are pleased to deliver results in line with our guidance, reflecting solid execution as we navigate a challenging memory environment,” said president and CEO Cristiano Amon. “We are in a period of profound industry transformation — the rise of AI agents is reshaping our roadmap across every platform we develop.” Revenues for its QCT segment fell 4% to $9.08 billion, largely due to a 13% fall in handset chip sales. This comes amid a decline in the smartphone market as prices for memory components surge, with global smartphone shipments down 6% in 2026’s first quarter. Its QTL segment, which includes Qualcomm’s licensing business, saw revenue increase 5% to $1.38 billion. Qualcomm’s guidance for fiscal 2026’s third quarter projects revenue of $9.2-$10.0 billion, below LSEG-compiled estimates of $10.27 billion. It also forecast QC
Tech
Meta beats estimates but user numbers drop
Meta beat revenue and earnings estimates last quarter, but active user numbers declined amid Iran’s ongoing internet blackouts. Revenue was up 33% year-over-year to US$56.31 billion, above LSEG-compiled estimates of $55.45 billion. Earnings per share were $10.44, or $7.31 excluding a $8.03 billion tax benefit, passing estimates of $6.79. “We had a milestone quarter with strong momentum across our apps and the release of our first model from Meta Superintelligence Labs," said CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Meta reported an average of 3.56 billion daily active users during the quarter. This is a 4% increase from one year ago, but a 5% drop from the previous quarter and below estimates of 3.62 billion. Zuckerberg credited the decline to the internet outages imposed by Iran’s government since January, and to the ban of WhatsApp Russia’s government ordered in February. This is the first time daily active users have fallen since Meta began reporting the metric. Meta’s income from operations rose 30% to $22.87 billion. Capital expenditures were $19.84 billion, up from $13.68 billion a year ago but under StreetAccount estimates of $27.57 billion. The company raised its 2026 capex guidance, and now expects $125-145 billion across t